OXFORD — A developer and contractor have come to undisclosed terms to build a Hampton Inn hotel across from the Oxford Casino, the clearest sign yet, according to town officials, that the project is viable and moving forward. 

In a small public ceremony in front of selectmen and other town officials at the Oxford Town Office on Tuesday afternoon, developers GIRI Group, a Quincy, Mass.-based company, signed an agreement with New York-based Calamar to construct a 92-room hotel. 

The details of the contract were not made public. After the signing, John Cleary, vice president of hospitality at Calamar, said the company expects to break ground in 30 days and to complete the project 11 months later. Ash Sangani, GIRI’s president, put the value of the project at about $15 million. 

“This is an extraordinarily important moment to build off the development of the casino,” Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce Executive Director John Williams said. “We’re excited. This is a catalyst for the whole region.”  

The deal comes a month after GIRI signed a second, new credit enhancement agreement enabling the town to retain some of the taxes generated through property development. If the group raises the property value of a 4-acre parcel by at least $10 million by next April, the town will reimburse it for infrastructure improvements related to parking and sewer maintenance.  

Town officials had hoped the hotel would be built sooner, in part to repay debt incurred through its sewer project and to create jobs.

In December 2013, officials signed the first credit-enhancement agreement with Thurlow Family, a group of local landowners, to improve the land value through the hotel project. Thurlow Family sold the 4.3-acre parcel to GIRI Group shortly after signing, and last March, developers announced earthwork had begun on the site.

Construction never took place. This past April, the deal expired, and the town issued a new agreement, essentially extending the deadline another year.

Building plans have yet to be submitted to the Town Office, according to Code Enforcement Officer Rodney Smith.

“People have been waiting a long time for this,” Selectman Roger Jackson said. 

First announced nearly two years ago, the hotel is widely viewed as an essential accompaniment to gamblers and tourists visiting Oxford Casino on Route 26.  

Town officials and Sangani have previously said that completion of the hotel is tied to the launch of the town’s $24 million sewer project, not expected to be completed before next summer. 

Sangani downplayed the notion that uncertainty over whether the Legislature would approve a bill allowing a casino to open in southern Maine or similar proposals making their way through several New England states has delayed the project. 

“In reality, the site itself was the biggest challenge,” Sangani said, referring to the steep slope upon which the hotel will be built. Permitting for that site was completed in December. 

In addition to 50 to 90 temporary jobs created through construction, the hotel could create 23 part- and full-time jobs, from executive, administrative and clerical positions to maintenance and transportation with salaries from $25,000 to $80,000, according to an application GIRI submitted to the town. 

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